Door fastener



Sept. 17, 1957 V. CHANARYN DOOR FASTENER Filed Aug. 20, 1953 United States Patent signor to Wilmot-Breeden Limited, Birmingham, England Application August 20, 1953, Serial No. 375,424

Claims priority, application Great Britain September 11, 1952 2 Claims. (Cl. 70-135) This invention relates to door fasteners, and particularly vehicle door fasteners, of the kind comprising a rotary toothed catch and a toothed striker engageable with the catch.

The object of the present invention is to provide a fastener of the above mentioned kind in a simple and robust form.

A fastener in accordance with the invention comprises the combination of a body part, a rotary toothed catch, a pawl directly engageable with the catch, and pawlreleasing levers acting on the pawl.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation and Figure 2 a vertical cross section illustrating one embodiment of the invention.

In the construction illustrated by the drawings, the body part of the fastening consists of a pair of plates 0, b which are secured together in parallel relationship and are adapted to be attached to the door of a vehicle. To these plates is attached a pin c which carries the rotary toothed catch of. Each tooth of the catch may have formed on one side of. it, and adjacent to its outer end, a flat or slightly concave surface e adapted to serve as an abutment for a catch-engaging pawl 3. Also to the plates a, b is attached a pivot pin 2 on which are mounted the catch engaging pawl 3, and a locking plate 4, the pawl 3 being loaded by a spring 5, and the plate 4 being lightly loaded by any convenient form of overcentre spring (not shown) which serves to hold the plate against accidental movement from either of its limit positions. Further there is pivoted on the plate a by a pin 6 a pawl-releasing lever 7 which is loaded by a spring 8 and has formed on it a finger piece 9, this lever being operable from the outside of the door against the action of its spring. A part of the lever 7 lies between the pawl 3 and plate 4 and has formed in it an elongated hole 10 adapted to permit the required angular freedom of the lever.

On one side of the pawl 3 is formed a projection 11 serving as an abutment for a peg 12 on the lever 7, so that the pawl can be released from the catch when the lever 7 is pressed inwards against the action of its spring 8. Also on the other side of the pawl is formed a projection 13 for the purpose to be hereinafter described. The lower edge of the pawl has formed on it a part 14 for engagement with any of the abutments e on the catch teeth.

For actuating the pawl from the interior of the vehicle, there is provided a bell-crank lever 25, this being pivoted by a pin 15 on a lateral projection 16 on the plate a. This lever is operable from an inside handle through a link 17. The arm 18 of the lever 25 is arranged to bear against the above mentioned projection 13 on the pawl, so that on movement of the inside handle in the appropriate direction, it can swing the pawl out of engagement with the catch.

Prevention of release of the pawl is effected by the plate 4. On one end of this plate is formed a laterally extending flange 19 in which is formed a gap into which extends a peg 20 formed or secured eccentrically on one end of a rotatable cylindrical part 21 which is angularly movable against the action of a spring (not shown) by a detachable key. Rotation of the part 21 by the key and against the action of its spring, causes the peg 20 to swing the plate into a position in which its flange lies behind the finger piece 9 of the lever 7 and so prevents actuation of this lever. To return the plate 4 to its unobstructive position the key is actuated for rotating the part 21 in the opposite direction. Further there are provided on the opposite side of the plate 4 a pair of projections 22, 23 for co-operation with the arm 18 of the lever 25.

When the inside handle is moved in the opposite direction to that required for releasing the pawl, it presses on the projection 23 and so swings the plate in the direction for engaging its flange 19 with the finger piece 9 of the lever 7, thus locking the fastening. When the said arm 18 is moved in the direction for releasing the pawl, while the plate 4 is in the position in which it engages the finger piece, it encounters the projection 22 on the plate 4 and returns the latter to its normal position.

Further there is formed on the plate 4 a projection 24 which can be encountered by the adjacent edge of the pawl for effecting return of the plate 4 to its unobstruc tive position by the action of closing the door, in the event of the plate 4 having been previously moved to the position in which it engages the finger piece 9.

It is intended that a fastening as above described shall be provided on each of the opposite doors through which the driver can leave the vehicle, and if he desires to lock both of these doors on leaving the vehicle, the following procedure would be adopted. One of the doors would be locked by actuation of the associated inside handle in the direction for causing the arm 18 to swing the plate 4 into the position in which it prevents movement of the finger piece 9. The driver would then leave the vehicle through the other door, and would look the fastening after re-closing the door by key-actuation of the part 21. But should he inadvertently have moved the inside handle of this door before leaving, to the position in which he had caused the plate 4 to engage the finger piece 9, and should he also inadvertently have left the key in the vehicle, he would find that he could not re-enter the vehicle, but for the following safeguard. In the act of closing the door the rotation of the catch by its encounter with a tooth y of the striker x secured to the door frame, causes the pawl to be rocked about its axis, and in so doing an edge part of the pawl strikes the projection 24 on the plate 4 and so returns the plate 4 to its unobstructive position thereby making it possible for him to re-open the door. It follows that at all times the plate 4 on the fastening of the door through which the driver leaves the vehicle is in the position shown in the drawings, and locking of the door after re-closing it has to be elfected by means of the key.

By this invention vehicle door fastenings of the kind specified can be provided in a strong and simple form which is well adapted to resist injury by strains set up by slamming of the door.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A door fastening comprising a rotary catch provided with a plurality of teeth, a toothed striker engageable with the catch teeth, a pivotal locking pawl directly engageable with any of the catch teeth which are engageable with the striker, first and second levers respectively operable from the outside and the inside of the door and each having thereon an abutment arranged to impart catchreleasing movement to the locking pawl under the action of the corresponding lever, a plate pivotally mounted coaxially with the pawl and movable into and out of a blocking position in which a part of the plate lies in the path of a part of the first lever andthereby prevents movement of the first lever, and key-operable means for moving the plate, the latter having parts respectively engageable by the key-operable means and the abutment on the second lever so that the plate is alternatively operable by the key-operable means and the second lever for causing the plate to assume its blocking position.

2. A door fastening as claimed in claim 1, in which the pawl and plate are provided with interacting means 4 whereby the plate is adapted to be moved by the pawl to a freeing position with respect to the first lever during closing of the door.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,173,765 Potter Sept. 19, 1939 2,198,548 Marple Apr. 23, 1940 2,557,468 Roethel June 19, 1951 2,646,300 Roethel July 21, 1953 

